A Day in Life

We knew it was going to happen sometime.  What we didn’t know was when and where.  We are relieved to know that is over.

Ok, What?  We have an elderly man living near us.  He used to be our next-door neighbor until we moved up the hill and across the street last February.  This man is reaching up to tickle 80 and he doesn’t have to reach very far.  A WWll Veteran, who we can thank for helping to keep this country safe, living in squalor.  For whatever reason, he has chosen to live in his home is spite of the fact he is unable to care for himself.  Late yesterday afternoon he fell.  We don’t know why, except that the Lord let my husband find him lying near the entrance of his home.  My husband said it looked like he had pulled himself to where he could shade his head.  We have no idea how long it was that he laid there until he was found.  As of this writing he is in an Intensive Care Unit.  We are relieved that he was outside, in that if he had been inside we wouldn’t have been able to find him.

I hope that if I ever get near the point of time that I cannot care for myself, I will be able to accept it gracefully and make such arrangements.  I would hate to give up my home and my car keys.  I’m asking the Lord to help me do it when the time comes.

I have wondered how his children can allow their father to live like that.  Do they not have eyes to see or noses to smell?  I wonder about what their home life must have been like. 

I would have never have guessed that a person could be allowed to live like that.  To keep an animal in such conditions would be against the law, but people are allowed to live like that?

July 22, 2005

He responded well when my husband visited him this afternoon.  He's out of the ICU and in a room now.  They think he had a stroke, but aren't positive yet. When the family found out about their father, they came to town and have been with him.  His truck and trailer will be moved to the out of town daughter's property and cleaned.

Thank you for your prayers!